WAYS OF LEARNING OF CHILDREN WITH DOWN SYNDROME INSIDE THE

CLASSROOM

A Qualitative Research

Of

De Las Alas, Lara Denise O.

De Los Angeles, Joshua M.

Medalla, Jamie D.

Navarro, Mary Clarisse M.

Villanueva, Raven D.

January 2018
 Chapter 1

PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction

Down syndrome today is much different than it used to be, it has advance

in many ways. It has enabled children who are diagnosed with it to keep working

hard because they can achieve anything if they set their mind to it. Down

syndrome can be a devastating diagnosis; however, parents and those

diagnosed can still go on to live happy contented lives. The researchers chose

this topic because as of today some people look that a person with Down

syndrome, do not have the capability or potential to study and learn. We want to

show that every child especially with this kind of case, we want to investigate

whether parents of children with Down syndrome are finding it difficult to provide

their children with communicative experiences.

According to Oelwein (1995), "The gift of reading is one of the greatest

treasures you can give a child. Most children with Down syndrome can learn to

read, though, like all children, each has his or her own learning styles and needs.

Different techniques are more effective with some children than others. "This

means that each child can learn depending on their own abilities. Every learner

who has Down’s syndrome is unique. Individuals differ across all aspects of

social and cognitive development as well as in their family support and

educational opportunities. Every individual is helped by teaching staff having high

expectations. Children with Down’s syndrome need skilled teachers who

2
understand their current skills, abilities, strengths and interests and who can

teach them the next steps through engaging teaching and learning activities.

They need to be welcome, socially included members within their classrooms

and schools. The positive attitude of the whole school is fundamental: schools

need a clear and sensitive policy on inclusion with committed and supportive

staff, especially the senior management team.

In 2000, at the World Education Forum in Dakar, Senegal, 164

governments agreed on the Dakar Framework for Action, Education for All:

Meeting our Collective Commitments, launching an ambitious agenda to reach

six wide-ranging education goals by 2015. UNESCO initiated the EFA Global

Monitoring Reports in response, to monitor progress, highlight remaining gaps

and provide recommendations for the global sustainable development agenda to

follow in 2015. Despite all efforts by governments, civil society and the

international community, the world has not achieved Education for All. It aims to

expand and improve comprehensive early childhood care and education,

especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children, ensure that by

2015 all children, particularly girls, those in difficult circumstances, and those

belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to and complete, free, and

compulsory primary education of good quality, ensure that the learning needs of

all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate

learning and life-skills programs, achieve a 50% improvement in adult literacy by

2015, especially for women, and equitable access to basic and continuing

education for all adults, eliminate gender disparities in primary and secondary

3
education by 2005, and achieve gender equality in education by 2015, with a

focus on ensuring girls' full and equal access to and achievement in basic

education of good quality, and improve all aspects of the quality of education and

ensure the excellence of all so that recognized and measurable learning

outcomes are achieved by all, especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life

skills.

Down syndrome is the most commonly occurring chromosomal condition,

and research into improving the quality of life for people with Down syndrome is,

of course, incredibly important. The researchers concern is to gain a

comprehensive understanding about the way of learning of children with Down

syndrome inside the classroom. Thus, the researcher would like to conduct an

interview with teachers in different schools that have sped students to get

knowledge and more relevant information about children with Down syndrome.

For the researchers to propose an action plan that giving concern to the children

with Down syndrome and the quality of education they deserve.

Statement of the Problem

The researchers aim to find out the ways of learning of children with Down

syndrome inside the classroom.

Specifically the researchers seek to answer the following questions:

1. In what ways do the children with Down syndrome develop their

intellectual skill inside the classroom?

4
 2. What are the difficulties of teacher on teaching students with Down

syndrome?

3. What are the potential of the children with Down syndrome to learn

more when given the opportunity and appropriate support from teachers?

4. What is the action on improving educational outcomes for children

with Down syndrome?

Scope and Limitation

This study focused on the ways of learning of children with Down

syndrome in terms of behavior and participation in classrooms and developing

their skills. This only includes teachers of the sped students at Gaudencio B.

Lontok Memorial Integrated School and Senator Claro M. Recto. We choose this

school because we know that they can give the information needed by the

researcher.

The study’s target respondents are the teachers of the sped children

between the ages of 20 and 40. The researchers conducted a series of survey(s)

and objective(s) to satisfy their objectives.

Significance of the Study

In view of this, Researchers objective is to provide the readers essential

information about the ways of learning of children with Down syndrome in

selected schools in Lipa City, Batangas. The researchers deeply believed that the

results and findings of the study shall be beneficial to following:

5
SPED Teachers. They will be able to know and learn other teaching styles that

will enhance the skills of the children.

Parents. They will know what else they can do to improve their children’s

communicative skills.

Society. They will know how to handle their reactions especially when they see a

person with Down syndrome

Future researchers. As the next generation researchers, this study could be a

guide in making their research. Also, they could replicate this study to a different

set of respondents. And lastly, this could be a source of information for their

studies, especially those that concern to the children with Down syndrome

Chapter II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter includes the information gathered from published and

unpublished materials as well as studies conducted in the past that has some

bearing or similarity with the present study, which helped and guided the

researchers. This includes conceptual literature, research literature and the

synthesis.

Conceptual Literature

To have adequate background knowledge of the problem, under

consideration, literature were gathered and reviewed by researchers from the

books, past studies and other resources, which were relevant to the present

6
study. The first part contained the conceptual literature, which served as the

basis of the study's framework. The second part was the review of the studies

related which gave the researchers deeper insights and ideas about the studies.

This literature and studies helped the researchers in having substantial

background of information to interpret the obtained data and formulated findings,

conclusions, and recommendations out of the obtained results.

Down syndrome

Down syndrome is a chromosomal disorder that results in the presence of

an additional third chromosome twenty-one or 'Trisomy 21' (Selikowitz, 1997).

Named after John Langdon Down, the first physician to identify the syndrome,

Down syndrome is the most frequent genetic causes of intellectual disability

(Sherman, et al., 2007). Down syndrome has varying associated medical

implications and occurs in approximately one out of every eight hundred live

births (Roizen, 2007) in all races and economic groups. There are three types of

Down syndrome (Talay-Ongan, 2004). These types include Trisomy 21,

Translocation and Mosaic Down syndrome. In the case of Trisomy 21 there are

three of chromosome 21 in every cell, translocation includes part of chromosome

21 being attached to another chromosome in every cell, and Mosaicism include

some cells which have three of chromosome 21 and others which have two

(Sherman et al., 2007). Characteristics which formed the basis of the diagnosis

of Down syndrome included the palmar crease on the hand, low muscle tone,

epicanthic folds on the eyes, a large gap between the big and the next toes, a

7
small mouth in comparison to the tongue, and gold spots in the iris of the eye

(Faragher & Clarke, 2014).

As the current research is focused on the education of learners with Down

syndrome, it is contended that teachers must have an understanding of the

identified health conditions associated with Down syndrome for effective

inclusion of these students in their classrooms. Extensive knowledge is not

require however, an understanding of associated health conditions, balanced

with an understanding of an individual nature of all learners with Down syndrome

is necessary for teachers to effectively teach young children with Down

syndrome. For this reason the following review focuses on research relating to

heath conditions and educational implications of Down syndrome.

Given that collaboration with support staff and other colleagues’ facilities

successful inclusion, it is important to garner teachers' experiences managing

support staff, and how they build and facilitate these relationships. Teachers who

are successful in effectively carrying out inclusive education are focused on a

range of strategies that they can implement to meet individual students' needs.

The language used to describe what changes are made differs, and includes

terms such as differentiation, adaptations, or modifications. The foundational

element however is the same and is built on a responsiveness to the needs of all

learners (Hoover & Patton, 2008). Ensuring curriculum is more engaging and

meaningful to the student is a key facet, as is personalizing learning for each

student and creating a community of learners who support and share in each

other's learning (Ferhuson, 2008). Strategies such as differentiated instruction

8
(Tomlinson, 2003) involve teachers thinking about different ways lessons or tasks

can be presented which may meet the learners' needs in better ways.

Differentiation also takes into account the students' level of abilities, their interest

and their learning styles (Ferguson, 2001; Tomlinson, 2003). Teachers need to be

aware first of differentiation strategies, and second feel comfortable with using

them for students with disabilities with their classrooms. The current research

study contributes findings in this area. The decisions teachers make regarding

teaching a child with Down syndrome in their rates in the emotional, behavioral,

and attention domains (van Gamerenoosterom, Fekkes, Buitendijk, Mohanngo,

Bruil, & van Wouwe, 2011). Difficulties in social, attention and thought problems

form obstacles in educational learning opportunities. Teachers aware of these

challenges can build and assess realistic learning goals on an individual basis for

learners with Down syndrome which are relevant to their interests and learning

patterns.

Early invention in understanding and working with challenging behaviors

helps provide learners with Down syndrome more optimal educational outcomes.

Behavioral interventions, such as using an analytic approach to addressing the

needs of learners with Down syndrome have been researched on a limited scale

with optimistic results (Buckley, 2008; Feeley & Jones, 2008). Interventions

associated with challenging behavior with children with Down syndrome need to

be adapted with awareness of the Down syndrome behavioral phenotype to

ensure adequate focus on the known strengths and weaknesses of individuals

with Down syndrome. The area of social development when compared with their

9
neuro developmental disorders is considered to be an identified area of strength

for children with Down syndrome (Davis, 2008). However, while children with

Down syndrome may exhibit a strong desire to be involved in social interactions

are not necessary held ( Guralnick, Connor, & Johnson, 2009). Combined with

this, social interactions and the pursuance of them may be at the disadvantage of

learning and cognitive tasks (Wishart, 2007). Protective factors in social

development for children with Down syndrome have been reported as high levels

of representational play and a strong interest in interacting socially which

appears sufficient to overcome language difficulties and other developmental

impairments (Guralnick, Connor, & Johnson, 2011). Research conducted in

Australia has shown that there are insufficient funds available for professional

development to up-skill teachers for working with students who have disabilities,

and also insufficient funds to cover teacher relief, travel and support (Shaddock

et al., 2007). For teachers working with children wth Down syndrome it is

unknown how successful professional development is in informing the practice of

general education teachers working with them.

Inclusive teaching approaches for children with Down syndrome

The pedagogy of teachers, or their teaching practices, influence the way

children are included successfully within classrooms. Lewis and Norwich (2000)

investigated the pedagogy for children with learning difficulties, including children

with Down syndrome, and they concluded that what is successful for these

students, would in fact work for all students. Significant to the current research,

Lewis and Norwich suggested that teacher value pedagogies based on the

10
recognition of individual learning needs which they called ‘unique differences’

(Lewis & Norwich, 2000). A similar study in the United Kingdom focuses on the

importance of connecting with individual learners and making learning

experiences meaningful, and this was identified as being useful in inclusive

education (Corbett, 2001). Understanding that diversity exists not only within

each individual but within disability groups is key to effective teaching

approaches.

A focus on teachers in inclusive settings

As stated above, teachers are widely regarded as pivotal to the success of

inclusive education. It has been argued that it is teachers themselves, and not

wider legislation that is cornerstone of the success of inclusive education (Forlin,

Keen, & Barrett, 2008). The recognition that teachers are critical to the success

of inclusive education warrants a focus on documenting teachers' experiences.

Teachers are required to teach to diversity, and to do it effectively. Researching

teachers' experiences gives voice to the supports and challenges which enable

teachers to teach effectively. Literature has indicated the possibility that teachers

are not prepared enough for teaching in inclusive schools however, limited

research has been conducted in this area (Booth, Nes, & Stromstad, 2003;

Morton & Gordon, 2006). Additionally little has been reported on how well

teachers are prepared, or not, for having a student with Down syndrome in their

classroom. There is also little information relating to how teachers' experience

teaching children with Down syndrome, including what supports they have and

what challenges they face. Confusing pictures of how teachers feel about

11
inclusive education generally are evident in the literature. For example, teachers'

attitudes appear to vary according to the type of disability of the child they are

teaching (de Boer, Pijl, & Minnaert, 2011). There is evidence that teachers hold

negative views about the inclusion of children with learning disabilities,

behavioral issues, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder but that teachers

are more receptive to the inclusion of children with mild disabilities, physical

disabilities, and/or sensory disabilities, as opposed to what teachers may

consider are more complex needs (Avramidis & Norwich, 2002). Teachers have

reported concerns over their abilities to teach a whole group of children

effectively when teaching a child in their class with a disability, citing a reduced

capacity to tend to the whole class when focusing on a student with a disability in

their classrooms (Forlin, Keen, & Barrett, 2008). Furthermore, there is evidence

to suggest that teachers seemingly endorse the principles of inclusive education

but would rather it was not them having to enact it in their classrooms (de Boer et

al., 2011). What is clear is that teachers are seen as key stakeholders in inclusive

education and so understanding teachers' experiences is a critical part of how

inclusive education is enacted and understood (Meijer, 2003; Norwich, 1994).

With so little known about this area, it is necessary to ask teachers directly about

their perspectives and experiences in relation to having a student with a disability

in their class, and how these experiences relate to the principles of inclusion.

This aim is further refined in the current research which specifically questions

how teachers experience teaching a child with Down syndrome in their general

education setting. Research indicates that teachers have very real practical

12
concerns about inclusive education (Burke & Sutherland 2004; Scruggs &

Mastropieri, 1996), which can impact on teachers’ feelings of confidence in the

classroom.

Research Literature

This part of the paper presented the related studies gathered from various

unpublished thesis.

The study conducted by Stephanie J. Bennett, Joni Holmes, and Sue

Buckley(2013) entitled “American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental

Disabilities” evaluated the impact of a computerized visuospatial memory training

intervention on the memory and behavioral skills of children with Down

syndrome. Teaching assistants were trained to support the delivery of a

computerized intervention program to individual over a 10-16 weeks period in

school. Twenty one children aged 7-12 years with Down syndrome were

randomly allocated to either an intervention or waiting lists control group.

Following training, performance on trained and non-trained visuospatial shortterm

memory tasks was significantly enhanced for children in their intervention group.

This improvement was sustained four months later. These results suggest that

computerized visuospatial memory training in a school setting is both feasible

and effective for children with Down syndrome.

The study conducted by K. Cornish, A. Steele, C. Rondinelli Cobra

Monteiro, A. Karmiloff-Smith and G.Acerif entitled “Attention deficits predict

phenotypic outcomes in syndrome-specific and domain-specific ways.”

13
Attentional difficulties, both at home and in the classrooms, are reported across a

number of neurodevelopmental disorders. However, exactly how attention

influences early socio-cognitive learning remains unclear. We addressed this

question both concurrently and longitudinally in a cross- syndrome design, with

respect to the communicative domain of vocabulary and to the cognitive domain

of early literacy, and then extend the analysis to social behavior. Participant were

young children (aged 4-9 years at Time 1) with either Williams syndrome (WS,

N= 26) or Down syndrome (DS, N=26) and typically developing controls (n-103).

Children with displayed significantly greater attentional deficits (as indexed by

teacher report of behavior typical of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

(ADHD) than children with DS, but both groups had greater attentional problems

than the controls. Despite their attention differences, children with DS and those

with WS were equivalent in their cognitive abilities of reading single words, both

at Time 1 and 12 months later, at Time 2, although they differed in the early

communicative abilities in terms of vocabulary. Greater ADHD-like behaviors

predicted poorer subsequent literacy for children woth DS, but not for children

with WS, pointing to syndrome-specific attentional constraints on specific aspects

of early development. Overall, our findings highlight the need to investigate more

precisely whether and, if so, how, syndrome specific profiles of behavioral

difficulties constrain learning and socio-cognitive outcomes across different

domains.

The study conducted by Kristina Moll,Charles, Hulme,Sonali Nag,

Margaret J. Snowling. Children with Down syndrome typically have weaknesses

14
in oral language, but it has been suggested that this domain may benefit from

learning to read. Amongst oral language skills, vocabulary is a relative strength,

although there is some evidence of difficulties in learning the phonological form

of spoken words. This study investigated the effect of orthographic support on

spoken word learning with seventeen children with Down syndrome aged seven

to sixteen years and twenty-seven typically developing children aged five to

seven years matched for reading ability. Ten spoken no words were paired with

novel pictures; for half the no words the written form was also present. The

spoken word learning of both groups did not differ and benefited to the same

extent from the presence of the written word. This suggests that compared to

reading-matched typically developing children, children with Down syndrome are

not specifically impaired in phonological learning and benefit equally from

orthographic support.

Synthesis

Within the literature there are general strategies identified as being

successful in including students with disabilities in general education classrooms.

McDonnell, Thorson, Disher, Mathot-Buckner, Mendel, and Ray (2003) identify

strategies that teachers use to support students with disabilities include peer

tutoring, large and small group instruction, individual instruction, co-operative

learning, and co-teaching with the special educator teacher. Barriers to

individualized adjustments given by teachers for children with disabilities include

that inclusion is time consuming, simplifying lessons slows the pace for other

learners, using different approaches and resources can highlight differences, a

15
lack of awareness of what to do, and a lack of training and school support for

teachers (Westwood & Graham, 2003). These identified areas appear to indicate

that teachers need more assistance in order to better support children with

disabilities in their classrooms. Teachers who are successful in effectively

carrying out inclusive education are focused on a range of strategies that they

can implement to meet individual student’s needs. The language used to

describe what changes are made differs, and includes terms such as

differentiation, adaptations, or modifications. The foundational element however

is the same and is built on a responsiveness to the needs of all learners (Hoover

& Patton, 2008). Ensuring curriculum is more engaging and meaningful to the

student is a key facet, as is personalizing learning for each student and creating

a community of learners who support and share in each other’s learning

(Ferguson, 2008). Strategies such as differentiated instruction (Tomlinson, 2003)

involve teachers thinking about different ways lessons or tasks can be presented

which may meet the learners’ needs in better ways. Differentiation also takes into

account the students’ level of abilities, their interests and their learning styles

(Ferguson, 2008; Tomlinson, 2003). Teachers need to be aware first of

differentiation strategies, and second feel comfortable with using them for

students with disabilities within their classrooms. What strategies teachers use,

and how they have come to know and use them with regards to teaching children

with Down syndrome in the early years of schooling, is not known. The current

research study contributes findings in this area.

16
 This part discussed the relevance of the previously reviewed literature with

regard to their similarities and difference to the present study. It also included the

uniqueness of the present research. A synthesis of research conducted in New

Zealand (Alton-Lee, 2003) indicated that teaching that is responsive to student

diversity impacts positively on all the students in the class. Alton-Lee (2003)

identifies ten characteristics that effective teachers used in their inclusive

classrooms. These characteristics include quality teaching with a focus on

student achievement, pedagogical practices that enable classes to work as

cohesive communities, effective links between schools and other cultural

contexts, and teaching being responsive to students’ learning. Further

characteristics were identified as teachers giving opportunities to learn that are

effective and sufficient, multiple task contexts to support learning, and aligning

curriculum goals and resources. Also important in effective teaching is the

opportunity for scaffolding teaching approaches that provide feedback to the

student, teaching approaches that promote learning orientations, and the need

for teachers and students to engage constructively in goal-oriented assessment.

Several interconnected factors inform this research. These factors

combine to build the conceptual framework which guides the research. The

conceptual framework is outlined in the following section beginning with how’s

the researchers’ background has provided impetus for the research. A visual

conceptual framework (Figure 1.1) is used to describe the impact of the

theoretical underpinnings of this research, and how the theoretical underpinnings

relate to understanding the complexity of researching the ways of learning of

17
children with Down syndrome. A number of key links are evident in the

conceptual framework. The researchers’ conceptual framework illustrates

different ways on how children with Down syndrome, learn. How teachers

conceptualize their students with Down syndrome is affecting the ways of

learning of children with Down syndrome. To access the ways of learning of a

children with Down syndrome it was necessary to use variety of sources with

accessed what teachers said about how they teach each student with Down

syndrome, what was observed in classrooms, and their reflection about teaching

a child with Down syndrome.

Theoretical Framework

Visual teaching approach

Way of

learning of Behavior managing techniques

a child with Supported intensively on a one to

one
Down

syndrome Social understanding and non-verbal

communication

Attention and concentration spans

that their typically developing peers

Figure 1

Theoretical Framework

18
 Input Process Output

 The
difficulties
of teacher
in teaching
students
with Down  Ways of
syndrome. learning of
children
 Potential of
with down
the children
syndrome
with Down
inside the
syndrome
 Interview classroom
to learn
with the  Survey  Action to
support improve,
from their educationa
teacher l outcomes
for children
 Ways of
with Down
developing
syndrome
intellectual
skills of the
children
with Down
syndrome

Figure 2

Research Paradigm

19